


Embrace

by mikado214



Series: A happy ending [1]
Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Feels, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Embrace the Void Ending (Hollow Knight), i know it says major character death but they get better i promise, like. a lot of them, so there'll be SPOILERS
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:21:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25059172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikado214/pseuds/mikado214
Summary: A forgotten Hero.A free Knight.A cold Protector.Three siblings born from Wyrms.Three siblings free from Her.Three siblings free from Him.Their journey reaches an end.And a new one begins.
Relationships: Hornet & The Knight (Hollow Knight), The Hollow Knight | Pure Vessel & Hornet, The Hollow Knight | Pure Vessel & Hornet & The Knight, The Hollow Knight | Pure Vessel & The Knight
Series: A happy ending [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1814980
Comments: 8
Kudos: 79





	Embrace

**Author's Note:**

> I may or may not have speedrun the editing phase of this chapter between midnight and 1 AM. Hope it doesn't show too much.

With one last strike of their nail, the Radiance meets her demise.   
Ghost abandons their shell, their shade rising amongst countless others, as they become one.   
No longer a fragile bug, a vessel born in tragedy.   
They are a creature of the void, a god of the gods.  
  
They are a Lord.  
  
Ghost lead all of the shades to strike at the Radiance, again and again, to make her feel as much pain as she has made them feel, to make her understand the anguish she has brought to their siblings,  **_to destroy her.  
  
_ ** The shades only share one mind. And the only thing within it is blinding  _ rage.  
  
_ The Radiance screams as her light fades, and they scream too, finally having a voice.  
  
But even with the Radiance gone, the rage does not stop.  
  
And Ghost realizes that, despite being the center of this creature, they no longer have the full control of it.   
The other shades want to continue their rampage, to take their revenge against  _ everyone _ who has hurt them, against  _ the entire world.  
  
_ They reach out to the Godseeker throne, grab her with their tendrils, destroying her mind so that they could reach out to the other world, to the other side of dreams.  
  
Ghost’s rage is gone.   
Now they fear for the world they worked so hard to protect.   
And no matter how much they try, the Lord does not listen.  
There is nothing they can do, as the void leaks out from Godseeker’s eyes on the other side, ready to take over as a new infection.  
  
One single droplet of void falls onto the radiant flower Ghost had given to Godseeker as a gift.  
  
And then, it all goes very fast.   
  
Blinding pain goes through the entirety of the Lord.   
_ It hurts it hurts IT HURTS ithurts IthuRts IT hurts ITHURTS ITHUrts ItHuRTS iThURts-  
_ The shades cry out, this single contact with the petal of the flower burning them to their very core.   
They all struggle against the pain, tendrils whipping all around them.  
  
_ Ghost sees their shell, sees a way to go back to their life, to see their family, they reach out…  
  
_ The Lord finds themselves to have to forcibly retreat to the land of dreams, to the new kingdom they had stolen, this one hurting too greatly, too bright, too strong  
  
_ No! They are pulled back! Ghost doesn’t want to be pulled back! They try so hard, to reach their shell, they can only barely touch it before being warp back in the middle of the Lord. _ _  
_ _ Leaving behind, a little bit of shade and soul. _ _  
_ _ Enough to stay alive. _ _  
_ _ Enough for their form to simply stay asleep.  
  
_ _ They’ll come back. One way or another.  
  
_ And then everything disappears.   
The godseeker, the Lord of Shades.   
It is all quiet.   
As if nothing ever happened.

\---

It has been weeks since the Radiance was defeated.   
And Ghost was still nowhere to be seen.   
Many bugs had come up from that well ever since the infection was gone.   
Faces reminiscent of the fallen kingdom who had seen it in its prime.   
Past infected bugs who had somehow survived.   
There was family reunited, friends crying, lovers who thought they would never see each other again embrace.  
  
Hornet had even found Hollow, free from their stasis, from the infection, tentatively wobbling out of the temple for the first time in centuries.  
  
But none of them were the Little Ghost she knew.  
  
None of them were that small vessel, so fragile yet so strong.   
  
And that left a sour taste in her mouth.   
Because she knew that somehow, they were the one who had defeated Her.   
They were the one who had freed them all.   
And everyone is celebrating without the hero who saved them.   
No one seems to realize a hero is even missing at all.  
  
And perhaps she should celebrate too.   
Perhaps she should stay behind and take care of her other sibling, still recovering from the scars the infection left them.   
But she couldn’t.   
Not when she didn’t knew where Ghost was.   
Not when she didn’t knew if they were even alive.  
  
And so while people celebrated their new life and learned what it was like to live again, Hornet quietly jumped back into the well.  
She was gonna find Ghost.   
Even if it took her searching the entirety of Hallownest three times.

\---

Feeling.   
That’s something that Ghost isn’t used to.  
They have emotions true, always had them.   
After all, no matter how much the Pale King wanted it no vessels were truly hollow.   
  
But those emotions were muted. Restrained.   
And within the Lord of Shades mind, there is no such thing as restrains.   
The voice of thousands of vessels forms its shape and in the middle of it all, there is Ghost. Tiny little Ghost.  
  
And they want out of it.   
  
They never wanted to become a god.   
Let alone the center of a hivemind of thousand suffering voices.   
It hurts.   
It’s scary.   
They want to see their family again.   
They want to see Hornet.   
They want to see the resident of Dirtmouth, the Nailmasters.   
But they can’t no matter how much they want to.  
  
For the first time in their life, they can scream out in anguish but, there is no one to hear it, their scream only getting lost in the crowd of thousands other suffering souls  
  
They want to curl up, to cover their ears and shut their eyes tight.   
But they have no real physical form within this sea of shades.  
  
So they feel.  
Everything.  
It is the only thing they can do, stuck in this kingdom of dreams and nightmares.

\---

Hornet’s search took her to the royal waterways.  
There, there were still mindless beasts to slay, after all not every bug had sentience even before the Radiance came along.   
It was no real challenge for Hornet to take care of the squirming beast or to handle the rancid smell.   
However, there was something within her that felt uneasy.   
An instinct that she couldn’t quite explain.   
That her sibling was near.   
Perhaps it was the barest twinge of void within her, who felt called to her sibling.   
Or perhaps it was simply paranoia.  
  
And so she pushed on forward, deeper and deeper into this disgusting place.   
She pushed forward into a place she had never seen before.   
Into a junkyard of sort, where all lost objects of this kingdom seemed to have somehow fallen into it.   
And in the middle of it all, something caught her eyes.   
The bright white shine of a delicate flower, that had absolutely no reasons for being here.  
And her sibling. Laying face down onto the ground. Unmoving.  
“Ghost!” She called out to them, the relief of finally finding them washing over her.  
  
She felt her heart drop when they still were not moving despite her shouting their name.   
She shot her needle and swung as quickly as she could next to them, praying to god knows what that they were fine, that they just didn’t hear her.   
She kneeled next to them and hesitated for a second, before slightly shaking them.   
No response.   
And then she tried again harder. And harder.   
Ghost’s head only moved onto the other side, limply.  
Their empty eyes staring back at her.  
  
Hornet felt something within her break.   
She wasn’t sure of what it was. But she knew that it was the only thing that kept her going during all those weeks. All of those weeks of waiting, of searching.   
And now that it was gone, there was only one thing she could do.   
  
_ Cry.  
  
_ She put her head into her hands as sobs wracked her body.   
Gone was the curious Little Ghost, their little footstep, running up to her.   
Gone was the strong and stoic big sister, replaced by a curled up insect who suddenly seemed so much younger.  
  
She wanted to scream, to punch the ground, to kill every gods and wyrms of Hallownest, just so that she could see her sibling one more time, one more minute.  
  
She couldn’t even tell them goodbye.  
  
As that realization hit her, her sobs doubled.   
She could barely breathe through all of the tears, coughs intermingling with cries of anguish.  
  
Without her realizing her head was now resting onto the body of her sibling.   
Her body slowly giving up on her as she wracked it with cries so loud it exhausted all of the energy out of her.   
But now that her head was so close to their chest she could hear something.   
Or more accurately feel.   
A low rumbling.  
This pulled her right out of this frenzied haze of feelings.   
She stopped crying entirely, a new focus within her to keep her going. She listened intently to anything, any signs that the sibling she grew so ridiculously attached to was still there.  
Because vessels do not breath. That would be too easy. The void within them swirls around their shell, rising and falling rhythmically.  
But sometimes there was simply not enough void for it to imitate a breathing pattern .  
  
Void has a distinct sound though, of an angry sea, a rumbling thunder.   
  
And deep within the shell of their sibling, Hornet could hear that noise. That powerful noise of life, hidden away.   
  
Ghost wasn’t dead.   
She didn’t knew why they were unresponsive, but they  **weren’t** dead.   
The string that had broken within her came back, stronger than ever.   
And now that her mind was clear she could remember its name.   
  
**_Hope._ ** **_  
  
_ ** She cradled them near her in one of her sets of arms and used her needle to stand up again.   
Her legs were wobbling, exhausted by the emotional outburst she just had. But it was a long way back home, and now wasn’t the time to give up.  
And so, just like always, she pushed on.

\---

Ogrim was used to all of the strange noises of the waterways, all of the squirming of flukes, the quick footsteps of Pilflip, the breathy Hwurmp...   
But one sound that was definitely not usual was the cry of what sounded like a young bug.   
And those weren’t the usual sobs.   
They sounded more like screams of anguish and pain, like a part of their soul had been ripped away from them.   
  
This obviously worried greatly the Knight.   
So he got out of his usual home to look for the distressed bug, hoping he’ll be able to help.  
  
His pace is quick, it quickens even more when the cries suddenly stop, their worry growing even greater.  
What could have possibly happened for this distressed young soul to stop their scream so suddenly?   
His quick walk shortly turned into a strut, which quickly turned into a run as he could still not hear a single sound from the mysterious bug.   
  
Ogrim finally found what he thought might be the source of the cries of earlier, the striking red cloak of a young spiderling he was quite familiar with. He got closer, wanting to ask her if she was injured, however before he could talk to her she held up her needle up to his throat  
_ “Come no closer stranger. What do you want?”  
_ Her voice was sharp and cold, so different from the young bug Ogrim had learned to know, she looked ready to kill at any moment.   
Yet Ogrim still had a good hearty chuckle, knowing that it would never come to that  
“Well now Hornet, is this really a way to greet an old friend?”  
Her stance lost its edge and her needle lowered   
“... Ogrim?”  
She walked closer, the light of her lumafly finally illuminating him fully.  
He had changed over all these years, but the old bug was still recognizable to anyone who might have known him.   
“God it’s… Really you huh.”  
She let out a dry bitter laugh  
“I thought all Knights of the king were dead… I guess you’re still full of surprises.”  
He laughed too, much more fully than Hornet.  
“Always have been.”  
But his worry was in no way gone. And now that she was closer, it was clear she was not doing well. There were still dry tears on her mask, mix of soul and silk much like all weavers. She looked exhausted, and most importantly: in her arms was a very familiar bug. Ogrim knew Hornet well enough to know that commenting on her tears would only close her off more, therefore they focused on the bug resting in her arms  
“Oh, you know my little friend? Are they not doing well?”  
Hornet looked taken aback for a few seconds  
“You… Know Ghost?”  
“Oh, that is their name? They never really told it to me so I just kept calling them small one. A mighty warrior they are! We had quite a fantastic fight.”  
“I see…” She looked back at the sleeping Ghost “Somehow I’m not surprised. But, yes I know your friend. We’re siblings.”  
Now it was Ogrim’s turn to be taken aback.  
“I was not aware that the king had any other child than you with Herrah! That is quite surprising. But now that I think about it, it makes sense. You two do share a lot of common physical traits.”  
“We’re only half-siblings, our shared parentage being the king.”  
That confused Ogrim even more.  
“Well now, with who else did the king even had children with and why? I know the Queen was lenient but still…”  
Hornet tilted her head and furrowed her eyes, visibly confused   
“... Ogrim, Ghost is one of the children of the White Lady and the King…”  
“They had other children than the Pure Vessel?!”  
And at that moment Hornet seemed to be hit with a realization that Ogrim did not understood in the slightest.  
“Oh god… He never told you…”  
She looked horrified. Ogrim put his claws on her shoulder. For once there was no joy in his voice, as he realized that whatever Hornet knew was incredibly serious.  
“Hornet dear,  _ what is it that he never told me. _ ”   
She looked at Ghost, then back at him, clearly hesitating.   
And then she walked past him.   
“Follow me. I’ll explain everything on the way. And… There’s something I need to try, and it’s in a place you should really see.”

\---

How does one explain the horrific nature of the creation of the vessels to someone who always viewed the King so highly? That doesn’t even have the slightest clue about what he was doing behind the closed door of his workshops, doesn’t even realize such things are possible in this world?  
This was what Hornet was struggling with, and on top of the weight of their sibling in her arms reminding her of their uncertain future, it was… A lot.   
It was too much, but she couldn’t show it, not in front of Ogrim.   
And she does not think she has the strength in her to cry more anyway.  
But still, she should say something, anything! But her words stay stuck in her throat, unable to get out.   
  
The silence between the two of them is heavy with the things unsaid.   
Ogrim finally breaks it  
“Hornet… You said you had something important to tell me yet haven’t said a single word... And where are we even going?”  
She sighs “Sorry Ogrim… It is just… A lot. We are going to a place near the ancient basin, but you do not know it. Where to start… Tell me, what did you know of Hollow?”  
Ogrim tilted his head curiously   
“Hollow?”  
“Oh yes right, that is the name of the Pure Vessel. The king did not wanted them to have one but we never really listened to him as children so that’s what they picked.”  
“Ah, I see. Well not much if I am to be honest. They were the child of the king and the queen, therefore making them as godly as them. They were quiet, very quiet. I don’t think I ever heard them utter even a word. And they were hollow or at least supposed to be. From what the king told us, this was achieved through rigorous training of the mind.”  
“Well Ogrim, I am sorry to tell you that the king lied to you.”  
Hornet shot her needle through a passage near Ogrim’s home, swinging through spikes effortlessly, Ghost only making two of her four arms busy, being a weaver had its perks.  
She turned back to him from the platform she stood on, tilting her head in a quiet way to ask if he needed help to pass.   
Ogrim simply rolled up into a ball and bounced in between spikes, his shell harden enough to not feel a thing. He was soon next to her.  
“Hornet that does not come as much of a shock to me, the king lied about many things and we were all aware of it. Now, I want to know  _ how much _ he lied to us about this particular subject.”  
The platform was cramped with the two of them, Hornet jumped down to the nearest one  
“Well, first of all, Hollow’s ‘hollowness’ was not achieved through training but through the void that inhabits their shell.”  
Ogrim followed her and she jumped down to the next platform, their conversation continuing like that, Hornet leading the way and Ogrim closely following her.  
“But, how could he even get void within their shell? It’s known to burn like acid any regular bugs.”  
“It’s simple, Hollow is not a regular bug. To be frankly honest, aside from their shell not much of them is a bug. They’re a vessel.”  
Ogrim became more and more confused with each word  
“I’m not sure I fully follow you.”  
“It is a complicated thing so I do not blame you. To put it simply: Hollow is born from an egg much like every other bug. However, the location of their birth was peculiar. It has a very dense accumulation of void.”  
Ogrim was finally starting to understand. And he does not like where he thinks this conversation was heading. As they finally reach the ancient basin, he asks apprehensively  
“But what happens to a young grub born into such condition?”  
“They die. And then the void takes over their shell. It creates a new being, that the king believed to be completely hollow, perfect to contain the radiance.”  
Hornet started reciting the speech she had heard so many times through the closed door of his workshop, spitting each word more than saying them  
_ “No cost too great. No mind to think. No will to break. No voice to cry suffering.”  
_ She laughed bitterly, as she could see the old abandoned fountain of the king in the distance, decayed and broken much like this entire kingdom. She mutters something to this man that took so many things from so many bugs under the guise of “the greater good”  
“Look how well that worked for us crazy old man.”  
Ogrim was stunned by this reveal, absolutely horrified at the length of what his king even went to.   
He had so many questions, but couldn’t even ask a single one.   
They continued their trek down the basin in heavy silence, until they arrived in front of what Ogrim always remembered to be a door closed by the king’s brand that was now completely open.   
Ogrim finally asked one question  
“Hornet… How was the king able to get what he assumed to be a perfect vessel with only two tries?”  
Hornet looked back at him with pain in her eyes   
“He didn’t.”

\---

Hornet had explained to Ogrim what the abyss was, to not linger too much as it was a draining place for the both of them, to not talk as it would make him breathe in more of the stagnant void, and most important to not let himself be distracted by  **_anything_ ** he might see.   
  
But nothing could have prepared him for having to walk on the shell of thousands, no probably millions of  _ children.  
_ All this time, the castle was right above this graveyard, and the king never showed any shadow of guilt for the countless of life he selfishly took.  
How much time did it take them to die? Was it immediate? Or long, an eternity spent in darkness huddled into a corner until their inevitable passing?  
How many thought they could reach the top only to fall and crack their skull?   
How many did the king threw away himself for not being ‘perfect’ enough?  
  
Ogrim wasn’t sure if the sickness he felt to his very core was due to the void or the realization of all of the horrible actions of his ruler.  
  
Hornet was fast, unbothered, or at least not letting herself to be bothered.  
The young spider had grown so much since the last time Ogrim had seen her.   
She became taller, her horns grew.   
She was stronger too definitely, more agile with her needle, more skilled.   
And she might appear more mature, but Ogrim wasn’t fooled.   
It was clear that a lot of this so-called maturity was only an act.   
At her core, Hornet was a child too, forced to grow up too quickly because of a broken world and a fool of a king.  
  
Hornet was far away, yet waited for Ogrim once she arrived in front of a strange lake, illuminated by a lighthouse overhead.  
Once Ogrim, arrived at her side she quickly spun silk around him.   
Ogrim hadn’t much time to think before being unceremoniously thrown to the other side of this large body of, what appeared to be, water.  
_ Looks like Hornet got a little bit stronger than what Ogrim had expected.  
_ He curled into a ball to bounce on the other side to avoid breaking any of his limbs.   
Once uncurled, Hornet already had the time to come to the other side with the help of her needle and silk.   
She continued without waiting very long for him.   
They arrived in front of a fountain of void.   
Hornet climbed and delicately put Ghost body into it.  
And then they both waited in silence with only the faint trickle of the fountain.  
_ Ploc ploc ploc  
_ Nothing was happening.  
_ Ploc ploc ploc  
_ Ogrim looked back at Hornet, wondering what her plan was  
_ Ploc ploc ploc  
_ **“FUCK!”** Hornet finally broke out the silence with a yell filled with frustration and despair. She punched the ground under her, breaking a few masks. She did not seem to care for the bits stuck in her hand, too busy crying.  
Ogrim simply took her in his arm, knowing they needed to go before being too hurt by the void. She squirmed and fought, yelled against it but quickly gave up, overcome with her emotions but. She let herself fall back onto his chest and sob, let herself have a moment to let out years worth of bottled up emotions.   
As she was crying Ogrim took Ghost out of the fountain, he shook them out of any of the remnant void droplet attached to their cloak before holding them close to him.   
And then he calmly walked out of the abyss.  
He swam through the lake, walked through the shells of the countless broken vessels, jumped up each platform.   
The void was dense, but did not hurt him much, Ogrim had always been very resilient. And even if he was getting a bit old now, that resilience was still there.   
  
And finally, they were all back at the ancient basin.  
Ogrim sat down against a wall, and let Hornet take her time to cry, take her time to be the child she could never be.   
He let her yell and scream, let her punch his shell.   
He was a tough bug, he barely felt a thing.   
And the kid had clearly gone through a lot today.  
  
And he let her talks, most of the time it was nonsense to his ears, her cries garbling up her words.   
But he could still understand some of it  
_ “I thought it would work, I thought they would come back why won’t they come back, they deserve better why why why why why WHY WHY WHY WHY”  
_ Ogrim wishes he knew how to answer.   
He doesn’t. And so he simply listens and tries to sooth her.  
  
And Hornet cries and cries until she tires herself out of all her soul and falls asleep into Ogrim’s arms.  
  
Ogrim stands up carefully so as to not wake her up and goes to the stag station.   
  


\---

In the middle of the Lord constantly shifting shape, there is a little Ghost.   
It is supposed to be its leader, but they refuse that task.   
And so the Lord screams thousands of different voices, none of them united.  
And Ghost is one of them.   
  
They do not know how much time has passed since they entered in the dreamscape. Seconds? Minutes? Hours? Days? Weeks? Months? Years? Centuries?   
And did it even matter?   
Did Ghost even leave enough of an influence on this world to be remembered by others?  
  
The Lord was draining many things from the little shade. Happiness, memories, a sense of self.  
The void had no place for a mind, and it was taking it away from Ghost.  
And they were letting it happen.   
  
Until they feel a jolt, deep within their core. Not the Lord’s core shared with all of its shades, no  _ theirs, _ a jolt that only them felt.  
_ Unknown to them, their shell was filled with what they needed to live, with a fresh void to continue to exist.  
_ A jolt that reminds them who they are, reminds them that they  _ exist _ not just as a floating meaningless shade, but as a bug with thoughts and feelings and friends and a family.   
A bug with a sleeping shell waiting for them.  
  
Ghost tentatively extend their small hand out of the Lord of Shade form. They can feel being pulled toward where they just know their shell is, where the rest of their void is.   
But the Lord is quicker, and they are pulled back within it.  
  
But Ghost does not feel hopeless.   
Because this just proves to them that they can get out of the Lord’s grip, even if just for a few seconds.  
  
And maybe if they try, again and again, putting more force each time, they could do it.  
No, they  **_will_ ** do it.   
  


\---

It has been so long since Hollow last saw Hornet.   
And they were getting worried.  
She disappeared without saying a word.  
Not even a note explaining where she went to.   
And she left Hollow alone.  


At first, they were scared.   
When you’ve been abandoned by the only person you thought loved you for centuries, you tend to think that anyone who leaves you is gone for good.  
  
Then they doubted.   
Why did she leave them like that? Were they just worthless to her? Were they not good enough?  
  
Then the anger came.   
Why? Why would she do that to them? Why after she knows everything they went through? Why leave them all alone? Why be so cruel?  
  
But sadness quickly followed.   
Loneliness was getting to them. The villagers of Dirthmouth might be nice, but it was the same as having your family with you.   
They spent most of their day in their home, wallowing, barely able to get out to buy some food.  
  
And then it was fear again, but this time a different kind.  
Because what could possibly be taking Hornet this long? Was she hurt? Stuck?  _ Worse?  
_ Hollow had already lost one sibling.   
They did not want to lose another.   
And so those days spent at home turned into days pacing around the stag station.   
Hoping that one day it’ll open again, Hornet coming out of it.  
  
The citizen of Dirtmouth tried distracting them, tried showing them around places in the town they never visited before. Hollow followed them, out of politeness, but they always ended up back at the stag station. Waiting.   
  
The worst was that they could not do anything.   
The infection had greatly weakened them.  
There was a time where they could teleport, whip around their void tendrils, send swords flying, and create explosive orbs of soul.  
Those times were gone.   
And they knew that without the infection clogging their mind with a need to create meaningless violence, they could not swing around their nail with only one arm yet.   
They also knew that their wounds were still not fully healed. The shell that protected their left side gone, destroyed by Her, only leaving the raw flesh of the void behind, that could still send a jolt of pain through their whole body if moved in the wrong way.  
  
And so they wait and wait.   
During the day and night.   
Because what if Hornet comes back in the middle of the night badly hurt, with no one to help her?  
They could not let that happen.   
  
And just when they were starting to lose hope, there’s a rumbling underneath them and the door of the stag station opens.   
It had been weeks since Hornet was gone.  
Out came Ogrim, holding both Hornet and Ghost sleeping form.   
_ Wait a second, Ghost?  
_ Ogrim looked just as surprised to see them as they were to see him.  
“Oh… She had not told me that you were alive…”  
He chuckled a bit nervously, trying to hide his shock.   
Hollow signed tentatively, just like Iselda showed them  
_ “What happen?”  
_ “Ah it is a long story… It appears that Hornet found your sibling asleep in the royal waterways. They were clearly weakened, and one thing leading to another we went to the abyss to try to give them more void so that they would wake up… It did not work.”  
Hollow became incredibly worried, why would she do that? The abyss is no place for a regular bug!  
_ “Danger!”  
_ “We were aware of that Hollow, and we were quick. Hornet is just asleep because she had an emotional day. As for Ghost… I do not know.”  
Hollow took a closer look to the both of them. Hornet’s tears were dried but still left a clear mark on her mask. As for Ghost… There was something about their sleep that seemed quite familiar to Hollow. After so much time spent within it, Hollow had started to be able to notice bugs with a stronger pull to this other world  
_ “Dream… Stuck.”  
_ Ogrim was clearly confused  
“Are you talking about Ghost? But… The Radiance was defeated, how could they be stuck there?”  
_ “Radiance control dreams. Not create them.”  
_ It was still a strange thing that Ghost would be stuck there. They wondered how it could have happened.   
And then it hit them  
_ “Ghost kill Radiance in dream. Can’t leave.”  
_ “Oh… Oh, wyrms… This would explain so much... But then what can we do to bring them back?”  
_ “Not know.”  
_ But they will figure it out.   
Hollow took Hornet and Ghost back home and slept.  
For the first time in weeks, there were no longer alone in the house. And even if things were complicated, it made them happy to know that their family was back together.   
They’ll worry about the future later.

  
  


\---

A routine has taken place within their home.   
It took Hornet and Hollow a while to figure it out, all of those things were new and strange… For both of them.  
  
But now, they think they got it down.  
  
They wake up, each in their own room, and take a quick breakfast.  
  
Hornet goes out to the King’s Pass, to harvest some fresh lifeseeds.  
She also goes to the Howling Cliffs, surveying any possible newcomers.   
At the end of it all, she was still the protector of Hallownest.  
  
Hollow stays at home, cooking, something that they had recently found they liked quite a lot.   
It took a while to even figure out they could like things. And even learning how to cook was quite a lot of trials and errors, the burn mark on their ceiling a grim reminder to keep a better watch on things they are cooking.  
But still, they weren’t too bad at it. At least they think.  
When Hornet comes back there are three spider canteens filled with the meal of the day. She takes two of them with her, quickly thanking Hollow.  
Sometimes they wish they could spend more time with their sister; just like before, before Her, before the Fall.   
But could they really blame her?    
After all, that third canteen was for Ghost.  
  
Hornet opens the door quietly and sits next to Ghost.   
She takes out her pouch of fresh lifeseeds and carefully squeeze it inside their eye sockets. It seemed…. strange and definitely felt like it too, but this was the best way she had found to give their sleeping form some sorts of nutrient.   
Hornet wasn’t sure how much the lifeseeds helped them, but if she were to judge by the roaring of the void within them every time she squeezes new ones, it really seemed to makes them stronger.  
  
Maybe one day they’ll have enough energy to wake up again…  
No, they  _ will _ definitely wake up.  
Then she passes them the meal of the day through their eye socket, letting the freshly reinvigorated void take care of it. Today it was soup, so it was quickly consumed.   
And then she ate, simply staying with them in silence.   
And once the meal was done, she leaves again, to go through Hallownest, find survivors, hunt food.  
And Hollow stays at Dirtmouth, spending time with its inhabitants, learning new things about the world.  
They still feel lonely though.   
  
Hollow spent the dinner alone with Ghost, this time of the day they’re the one feeding them. They often fell asleep next to them.   
Hornet comes back late and crashes on her bed, barely taking the time to take off her cloak.  
The night passes, and soon it is day.   
  
And it starts again.   
  
Hornet harvest lifeseeds.   
Hollow cook.   
Hornet feeds Ghost, today it was eggs with herbs.  
Hollow eats alone.   
~~_ Hornet cries quietly in her plate.  
_ ~~ Hornet goes out to hunt.  
Hollow tries to befriend the town’s people.   
~~_ Hollow feels so lonely.  
_ ~~ Hollow prepares and eats diner with Ghost.  
~~_ Hollow falls asleep after crying next to them, holding their limp little hand.  
_ ~~ Hornet comes back exhausted, arms filled with fresh meat she’ll distribute to the bug in Dirtmouth tomorrow.  
~~_ Hornet does that to stay active, to not think about the situation at hand.  
_ ~~ Hornet throws away her cloak, in the pile of many other cloaks that she still needs to wash.  
But for now, Hornet falls asleep.  
~~_ Hornet is too tired to think, she’s glad that her plans work, that she doesn’t have to cry herself to sleep every night.  
  
_ ~~ The night passes, and soon it is day.   
And it starts again.  
  
Hornet harvest lifeseeds.   
Hollow cooks.   
Hornet feeds Ghost, today it was a bun of herbs and meat.  
  
“Are you gonna wake up one day little ghost?”  
Even if the question is whispered, the house is silent enough for Hollow to hear.  
  
They wish they could answer it.  
They wish they could do something to stops the quiet tears of their sister.

  
  


\---

Ghost now have a vague idea of time passing.   
For some reason, it appears that every so often they can feel a jolt in their shade, a pull to go back to their shell. They do not know what is happening to it, but apparently, it was something good, something strengthening the void within it.   
They think this jolt happens once per day.  
And so, every time they feel it, they try dashing out of the Lords form.   
And every time they’re able to go out just a little bit further.   
  
At first, they could barely get their fingers out before being pulled back.   
But now they were able to get all the way up to their torso, and they were so close to getting their legs out they can just _ feel it. _

And each time they get out, they can hear and see glimpse of things around their shell.  
They can see the meals fed to them, their sibling crying. They can somewhat hear Hornet words  
_ “Little Ghost…” “...Why…” “... Wake up…” “... When…” “... Wake up…” “...Miss you…” “... Hear me…?” “... Wake up…”  
_ And Ghost wants to tell her that they’re trying, that they’re so close, that soon they’ll be there and hug her, wipe away all of her tears and they’ll all be happy together! But they can’t.  
  
Hornet isn’t the only one they see though.   
One day, Ghost caught glimpse of Hollow. They were alive, they were no longer infected. They saw them cooking, saw them fall asleep to their side, saw them cry too.   
And Ghost wanted to cry too, not out of sadness, but out of relief that their sibling could finally live in peace.   
And this became yet another reason to wake up. Because they know Hollow won’t get their happy ending until they are awake, and Ghost do not want to see them cry again! They know they already shed too many tears during their life.  
  
And finally, one day, when dashing through the Lord’s form they  _ fully  _ get out.  
They barely have time to realize it that their shade is pulled quickly, not towards the Lords form, but toward their own. The void in their shell had been calling out for them for so long, and finally, they were free to join it again.  
They see in their periphery the world passing by in a blur, the dark clouds of the land of dreams replaced by the cold hue of Hallownest. And they pass by areas they knew so well, by the royal waterways, the fungal waste, by Greenpath and the forgotten crossroad, and then they’re back at Dirtmouth, back at the beginning.  
  
They’re back in their body.   
Except they cannot move nor see.   
No matter how hard they try, their body remains limp.   
And at first, they panic, until they feel the void in their shell swirling around, trying to find its bearing again.   
It has been months since they hadn’t been in a physical shell. Was it truly surprising they could not immediately move again?  
They’ll wait, just a little bit more.   
They had already waited so long, what was just a few more days?

\---

The night passes, and soon it is day.   
And it starts again.   
There is shuffling in the kitchen as Hollow cooks. It smells good, Ghost wonders what they are making today.  
  
They would like to be able to see it.   
Once again they try moving their hand.   
But unlike all the other times, it actually moves.  
They wiggle their fingers around, making sure that this isn’t a dream, that they can move again.   
The more their fingers move, the more they can start feeling again in each of their limbs.   
Little needles prickle them, passing through their arm, their shoulder, their torso, their head.   
The darkness of their vision clears out, they can finally see their room.  
_ Oh god, they had forgotten how beautiful the world is after being lost in the void for so long.  
_ The needles continue. It doesn’t really hurt per se, but it does feel very strange.   
It’s like their body is finally emerging from a frozen pond.   
It still feels a bit numb, a bit heavy, and the sudden change is hard to handle.   
But it’s still an incredible relief.

\---

Hornet comes back from her usual errands.   
Today Hollow had challenged themselves, carefully roasting herbs and some of the meats Hornet had brought together to make a tasty meal. It looked delicious.   
Hornet gave them a tentative thumbs-up, not really feeling up to say or do much more.   
She takes hers and Ghost’s plates and goes in their room.  
She opened the door before promptly dropping her plates out of the shock of the sight in front of her.  
_ Ghost was standing.  
_ Yes, it was shaky, they had to hold onto the nightstand, their little legs barely supporting their own weight.  
_ But they were standing, they were awake.  
_ _ They were fine.  
_ Ghost finally notices Hornet and stops.  
  
The both of them stares at the other, unsure of what to do next.   
  
There are sounds of Hollow shuffling in the background, they heard the plates crashing and were trying to get through the house quickly to check if Hornet was ok, but with their height it was quite the challenge.   
  
Ghost raise a hand, attempting a shy wave.   
Hornet doesn’t let them the time to finish, closing off the distance in between them to take them in her arms.  
  
And she cries, just like she did so many times in the past few weeks, but this time it felt so good.   
Her tears were no longer laced with grief and doubt, heavy on her face, they were warm and joyful, they filled her heart with a feeling she so rarely let herself experience.  
Her sibling was awake, they were alive, they were  _ fine.  
_ She could feel their tiny arms attempt to wrap around her, physical confirmation of their awakening that doubled her cries of relief.  
  
Hornet feels a much larger body behind her, wrapping their arm around the both of them and joining them into the hug, she also felt cold goopy void tears fall on top of her head.   
Hollow had finally found their way into the room.  
  
The three siblings cried in each other’s arms for long, letting go of all of the weight they each individually had to carry on their shoulders.   
New challenges will come, new weights to carry.   
But for the moment they were together, and that was the only thing that matters.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! So uhm, I hope you liked this. Don't expect a consistent upload schedule, but I'll do my best because we're in this for the long haul. Also, don't hesitate to bully me otherwise I won't have the motivation to work on the fic (this is a joke please don't bully me) Also yeah this chapter is a BIG BOY, and I don't know if i'll be able to write so much stuff for the next chapters... We'll see I guess.  
> Next chapter will definitely be a whole lot more light hearted because yeah this one's a lot.


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